Autonomous processing station

ABSTRACT

An autonomous processing station, in particular for machining a plate-shaped workpiece, for example, including a roller conveyor and a suction table disposed beneath the roller conveyor for clamping the workpiece. The roller conveyor includes movable rollers, in a longitudinal center region of the roller conveyor, so as to be movable to the side beneath stationary rollers at ends of the roller conveyor, so that the workpiece can be lowered through the resulting opening onto the suction table.

This application is a continuation under 35 USC § 120 of U.S.application Ser. No. 16/111,280, filed Aug. 24, 2018, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates to an autonomous processing station for processinga workpiece having the features of the preamble described herein. Inparticular, a machining operation such as milling, grinding and/ordrilling is provided, potentially also laser machining, bonding,soldering, welding, painting, film-wrapping, and labeling of workpiecesmade of glass, ceramic, wood, plastic, stone or metal, and the like.This list provides examples and is not exhaustive.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

It is known to clamp a workpiece on a clamping table of, for example, amilling or drilling machine, and to process this by way of milling ordrilling. “Clamping” shall be understood to mean fixing a workpiece soas to be held immovably against forces that occur during processing.

It is the object of the invention to enable simple feeding and removalof a workpiece to and from a clamping table of the processing station.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This object is achieved by the features described herein. The autonomousprocessing station according to the invention comprises a clamping tablefor clamping a workpiece and a conveyor for conveying the workpiece toand from the clamping table, which is disposed above the clamping table.The clamping table may comprise clamping jaws, for example, formechanically clamping the workpiece. Preferably, the processing stationcomprises a suction table, serving as the clamping table, which securesthe workpiece resting thereon by way of suction using negative pressure,which shall be regarded as clamping within the meaning of the invention.

So as to place the workpiece from the conveyor onto the clamping table,the conveyor can be opened in a region over the clamping table, which isto say, an opening can be established in the conveyor, through which theworkpiece can be lowered onto the clamping table and/or, conversely, theclamping table can be raised so that the workpiece rests thereon and canbe clamped. Furthermore, the processing station according to theinvention comprises a lifting device by way of which, when the conveyoris open, the workpiece can be lowered onto the clamping table and/or theclamping table can be raised and/or the conveyor can be lowered, so thatthe workpiece rests on the clamping table. The workpiece is preferablyraised to such an extent, or the conveyor is preferably lowered to suchan extent, that the workpiece can be easily accessed from all sides,except from the bottom, for processing.

A workpiece to be processed is placed onto the conveyor and conveyedacross the clamping table. The lifting device grabs the workpiece, andthe conveyor is opened, whereupon the workpiece is lowered and placedonto the clamping table and/or the clamping table is raised, so that theworkpiece rests on the clamping table and can be clamped and processed.After processing, the workpiece is unclamped and grabbed by the liftingdevice again, wherein the workpiece, conversely, may also first begrabbed by the lifting device and then be unclamped, or may be grabbedby the lifting device as it is being unclamped. The workpiece is raisedand/or the clamping table is lowered, the conveyor is closed again, andthe workpiece is removed from the clamping table by the conveyor. A newworkpiece can be placed onto the conveyor and/or a processed workpiececan be removed from the conveyor, while a workpiece that is resting onthe clamping table and is clamped in place is being processed.

One embodiment of the invention provides for a multi-axis robot, servingas the lifting device, for lowering the workpiece onto the clampingtable and raising this onto the conveyor after processing. The robot cancomprise a mechanical and/or pneumatic gripping device and/or a supportfor the workpiece, for example in the manner of a lifting fork of aforklift truck. The robot may also be used to process the workpiece.

Another possibility is to provide one or more pneumatic or hydrauliclifting cylinders in addition to, or instead of, the robot as thelifting device, or as part of a lifting device, for lowering and raisingthe workpiece onto and off the clamping table.

One embodiment of the invention provides for a horizontal linearconveyor, for example a belt conveyor, for moving the workpiece acrossthe clamping table and, after processing, away from the clamping table.One refinement of the invention provides for a roller conveyor, havingrollers that can be moved to the side over the clamping table foropening the roller conveyor, so that a workpiece support region of theclamping table is exposed, seen from above. The opening step creates anopening in the roller conveyor or, in general, in the conveyor, throughwhich the workpiece can be lowered onto the clamping table, or theclamping table can be raised, so that the workpiece rests thereon.

The features disclosed in the above general description, the followingdescription of an exemplary embodiment, the claims and the drawing caneach be present alone, as a plurality together in any arbitrarycombination, or all in embodiments of the invention. An embodiment ofthe invention that does not include all the features recited in theclaims is also possible. The aforementioned embodiments andconfigurations of the invention can be arbitrarily combined.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in more detail hereafter based on anexemplary embodiment shown in the drawings. In the drawings:

FIGS. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 show a longitudinal sectional view of anautonomous processing station according to the invention along line A-Ain FIGS. 2, 4 and 6;

FIGS. 2, 4 and 6 show a view of the processing station from FIGS. 1, 3,5, 7 and 8 from above;

FIG. 9 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a second embodiment of anautonomous processing station according to the invention;

FIG. 10 shows a front view of the processing station from FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 shows a view of the processing station from FIG. 9 from above.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The autonomous processing station 1 according to the invention shown inFIGS. 1 to 6 is provided for machining and/or otherwise processingworkpieces 2 made, for example, of glass, ceramic, wood, plastic, stoneor metal, having essentially any arbitrary shape, wherein the workpieces2 have a preferably planar underside for pneumatic clamping by way ofnegative pressure. In the exemplary embodiment, plate-shaped workpieces2 are shown.

The processing station 1 comprises a horizontal linear conveyor which,in the exemplary embodiment, is a roller conveyor 3, for conveying theworkpiece 2 to and from a clamping table 4, which is disposed beneaththe roller conveyor 3. Rollers 5 of the roller conveyor 3 can be drivenso as to rotate individually or, in any case, by way of each axle. In alongitudinal center region of the roller conveyor 3, as can be seen inFIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 6, movable rollers 5 can be moved to the side, whichis to say in the direction of the ends of the roller conveyor 3, beneathstationary rollers 5, so that the roller conveyor 3 can be opened overthe clamping table 4, whereby an opening 6 is created, exposing aworkpiece support region of the clamping table 4, seen from above, ascan be seen in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6.

In the exemplary embodiment, the clamping table 4 is a suction table 7,which clamps a workpiece 2 resting thereon by way of negative pressure,which is to say holds this immovably against forces that occur duringthe processing of the workpiece 2. Suction openings in the suction table7 can be opened and closed individually. The suction table 7 is dividedinto sections which, in the exemplary embodiment, are rectangular, as isapparent from FIGS. 4 and 6, and extend across a width of the rollerconveyor 3. Other shapes are possible for the sections of the suctiontable 7, such as triangles or hexagons (not shown).

The workpiece 2, as is apparent in FIG. 2, is placed at one end (theright in FIG. 2), onto the roller conveyor 3, and conveyed across theclamping table 4. Before the roller conveyor 3 is opened, the workpiece2 is held by a lifting device 8, 9 (FIGS. 3 and 4). In the exemplaryembodiment, the processing station 1 comprises a multi-axis robot 9 forprocessing the workpiece 2, which also forms a lifting device. For theuse as a lifting device, the multi-axis robot 9 comprises, for example,a mechanical or pneumatic gripper (not shown). In the exemplaryembodiment, the multi-axis robot 9 comprises a lifting fork 10, such asis known from forklift trucks, as support for the workpiece 2. By way ofthe lifting fork 10, the multi-axis robot 9 reaches beneath theworkpiece 2, between the movable rollers 5 of the roller conveyor 3,which are then moved to the side beneath the stationary rollers 5 foropening the roller conveyor 3. Thereafter, the multi-axis robot 9forming the lifting device lowers the workpiece 2 onto the suction table7, which clamps the workpiece 2 by way of negative pressure.

The workpiece 2 clamped on the suction table 7 is processed by themulti-axis robot 9 (FIGS. 5 and 6) which, for this purpose, places thelifting fork 10 into a tool magazine and removes a tool, such as adrill, a milling cutter or a grinder, from the tool magazine, andprocesses the workpiece 2 through the opening 6 of the roller conveyor3.

A further dedicated hydraulic, pneumatic or electromechanical liftingdevice 8 is disposed beneath the roller conveyor 3 of the autonomousprocessing station 1. The workpiece 2 can be lowered from the rollerconveyor 3 onto the suction table 7 forming the clamping table 4 and/orbe raised again after processing, by the lifting device 8, instead of bythe multi-axis robot 9.

Two further options for transferring the workpiece 2 from the conveyor 3onto the clamping table 4 for processing, and back onto the conveyor 3after processing, include a clamping table 4 that can be raised to thelevel of the conveyor 3 (FIG. 7) and/or a linear or roller conveyor 3that can be lowered at least to the level of the clamping table 4 (FIG.8). For this purpose, the clamping table 4 or suction table 7 in FIG. 7,and the linear or roller conveyor 3 in FIG. 8, comprise liftingcylinders 12; 17. The clamping table 4 is raised to such an extent, orthe linear or roller conveyor 3 is lowered to such an extent, that asupport surface of the clamping table 3 is located at least at theheight of an upper face of the linear or roller conveyor 3. In this way,the workpiece 2 present on the support surface of the clamping table 4can be easily accessed from all sides (except the underside located onthe support surface of the clamping table 4) for processing. Forexample, a rack or a frame of the linear or roller conveyor 3 and therollers 5 of the roller conveyor 3 are not in the way for processing theworkpiece 2. The support surface of the clamping table 4 is the surfacearea on which the workpiece 2 is disposed for processing, and on whichit is fixed by clamping.

After processing, the workpiece 2 is raised again to or above the levelof the stationary rollers 5 of the roller conveyor 3 by the multi-axisrobot 9, or the lifting device 8, the roller conveyor 3 is closed, whichis to say the movable rollers 5 are moved beneath the workpiece 2, theworkpiece 2 is placed onto the roller conveyor 3 and conveyed away fromthe clamping table 4 to a removal region of the roller conveyor 3 (theleft in FIG. 2), where it can be removed from the roller conveyor 3,while another workpiece 2 is already being conveyed by the rollerconveyor 3 across the clamping table 4.

In FIGS. 9 to 11, the autonomous processing station 1 according to theinvention comprises a gantry machine tool 11 for processing theworkpiece 2 and, if necessary, a lifting device 8 for lowering andraising the workpiece 2 off the roller conveyor 3 or, in general, offthe horizontal linear conveyor. In the remaining aspects, the processingstation 1 in FIGS. 5 to 7 agrees with that in FIGS. 1 to 4 and, inrelation to the description of FIGS. 5 to 7, reference is made to theforegoing description of FIGS. 1 to 4.

1. An autonomous processing station for processing a workpiece,comprising a clamping table for clamping the workpiece, wherein theprocessing station comprises a conveyor for conveying the workpiece toand from the clamping table, the clamping table is disposed beneath theconveyor, the conveyor can be opened over the clamping table forclamping the workpiece, and the processing station comprises a liftingdevice by way of which the lifting device can at least one of lower theworkpiece onto the clamping table, and raise the clamping table so thatthe workpiece rests on the clamping table.
 2. The autonomous processingstation according to claim 1, wherein the processing station comprises amulti-axis robot, serving as the lifting device, for lowering theworkpiece onto the clamping table.
 3. The autonomous processing stationaccording to claim 1, wherein the processing station comprises a liftingdevice for lowering the workpiece onto the clamping table.
 4. Theautonomous processing station according to claim 1, wherein the clampingtable can be raised so that a support surface of the clamping table islocated at least at the height of an upper face of the conveyor.
 5. Theautonomous processing station according to claim 1, wherein the conveyorcan be lowered so that a support surface of the clamping table islocated at least at the height of an upper face of the conveyor.
 6. Theautonomous processing station according to claim 1, wherein theprocessing station comprises a horizontal and/or vertical linearconveyor.
 7. The autonomous processing station according to claim 6,wherein the processing station comprises a roller conveyor, havingrollers that can be moved to the side over the clamping table foropening the roller conveyor, so that a workpiece support region of theclamping table is exposed, as seen from above.
 8. (canceled)
 9. Anautonomous processing station for processing a workpiece, comprising aclamping table for clamping the workpiece, wherein the processingstation comprises a conveyor for conveying the workpiece to and from theclamping table, the clamping table is disposed beneath the conveyor, theconveyor can be opened over the clamping table for clamping theworkpiece, and the processing station comprises a lifting device by wayof which the lifting device can raise the clamping table so that theworkpiece rests on the clamping table.
 10. An autonomous processingstation for processing a workpiece, comprising a clamping table forclamping the workpiece, wherein the processing station comprises aconveyor for conveying the workpiece to and from the clamping table, theclamping table is disposed beneath the conveyor, the conveyor can beopened over the clamping table for clamping the workpiece, and theprocessing station comprises a lifting device beneath the conveyor byway of which the lifting device can lower the workpiece onto theclamping table so that the workpiece rests on the clamping table,wherein the lifting device includes at least one of a pneumatic,hydraulic, and electromechanical lifting device.